Police today released CCTV of a retired college lecturer using a cash machine just hours he was found dead in his burning bungalow.

Officers fear Cambridge-educated Christopher Proctor, 88, was targeted for his fortune and was killed before his house was set ablaze in Blackburn, Lancashire.

He is believed to have been targeted for
several years by people taking advantage of his vulnerability.

Detectives investigating the murder of the old man today also released pictures of the inside of his ravaged bungalow engulfed by flames in the blaze.

Christopher Proctor, left, who was killed before his bungalow was set ablaze. CCTV image of the retired lecturer, right, shows him using a cash machine, which is possibly one of the last sightings of him alive

Inferno: The ravaged bungalow in Lancashire that was left destroyed in the fire

Mr Proctor was found dead on November 10 after a fire ripped through his £200,000 bungalow where he lived alone and had lived for over four decades.

His bank book and wallet were recovered from
separate drains after the fire and officers later found CCTV showing
somebody attempting to withdraw cash from Mr Proctor’s bank - less than
two hours before firefighters were alerted to the fire.

Today detectives confirmed a 30-year-old woman and a 38-year-old man both from Blackburn were being quizzed on suspicion of murder.

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Although an exact cause of death has yet to be established, Mr Proctor was dead before the fire started.

Officers also released a CCTV image of Mr Proctor using a cash machine at Tesco near his home on Whalley New Road at around 3:00pm on Friday 9th November - 12 hours before the fire.

It is believed to be the last sighting of him alive.

Det Supt Paul Withers, who is leading the investigation, said: 'We believe that Christopher Proctor may have been targeted over several years by people taking advantage of his vulnerability.

'In the early hours of the morning shortly before the fire we know that someone tried to use his Nat West bank card at two cash points, first at the Tesco Express store on Whalley New Road at shortly before 2.15am and then a short time later at the Post Office at Brownhill roundabout at 2.25am.

Many of Mr Proctor's possessions became unidentifiable after the fire ripped through the property

Police were called by the fire service shortly before 4am on Saturday, November 10th to reports of a fire at the property. The home was ruined

It is believed Mr Proctor was killed before the fire which decimated his possessions and his house

'We have recovered hundreds of hours of CCTV footage and we are currently reviewing this and interviewing many witnesses.

'The post mortem examination has revealed that it was not the flames or smoke that killed Mr Proctor, he was already dead prior to the fire starting.

'I believe that the answers to Mr Proctor’s death lie within the local community and I would urge people to come forward with information. I am keen to speak to anyone who saw Mr Proctor or any suspicious activity in or around his home address to get in touch.

The retired college lecturer's books were left burnt in the inferno, pictured

Police fear Cambridge-educated Christopher Proctor, 88, had been targeted for his fortune and was killed before his house was set ablaze, pictured

'This is an incredibly difficult time for the family and I have specially trained officers supporting them. Understandably, they need answers and I hope that those people who have those answers do the right thing and come forward and speak to the police.'

A talented linguist, Mr Proctor graduated from Pembroke College at Cambridge University before taking up a teaching post at an Accrington School. Between 1958 until his retirement in 1985 he taught at the former Blackburn Technical College.

In 2000 he was convicted by a court after getting caught up in a couple’s plan to take their two children from foster carers.

Although at the time he was 80, he agreed to act as the 'getaway driver' for the couple and was subsequently arrested.

The
tragedy unfolded at 4am on Saturday November 10 after firefighters were
called to Mr Proctor’s property in Pleckgate Road, Blackburn, in the
early hours after a passerby raised the alarm.

Eye
witness Soyaid Patel, 26, said: 'I was with a friend on my way home
when we saw an orange glow in the distance and as we got closer we
realised it was a fire.

'We moved towards the fire shouting to
see if anyone was inside but there was no answer. As we got within a
couple of feet the windows blew out.

'By
this point, all the roof had collapsed and there was little left of the
bungalow. It was too risky to go inside. The whole building was on
fire.'

Mr Proctor's burnt-out bungalow in Blackburn, where he lived for nearly 40 years, which was set fire to

Police officers outside the home after they were called by the fire service shorty after 4am

Local Labour councillor Phil Riley, who lives next door to the property, said: 'The flames were raging. It was an inferno.

'The house was well ablaze and all
that is left is a shell. Christopher had lived there for more than 35
years. He was a nice man, but he was deaf and a bit of a recluse.

'It is a very sad end to what was a long life.'

During
Mr Proctor’s court hearing hearing at the town’s magistrates in October
2004, the court heard how Mr Proctor agreed to help a 40-year old mum
and her boyfriend, 44, after hearing her two young daughters had been
taken away from them under a care order.

Floral tributes outside the home of the retired college lecturer, aged 88 when he died

The old man covered his rear number car plate with a rag to try and avoid detection then drove them to Darwen and waited outside the carer’s house when the mother - who cannot be named - went to the front door.

The mother said she wanted to see the girls so she could give them presents but when the foster mother was distracted she took the girls from the house.

The foster mother then went outside and saw the two girls being bundled into a car parked down the road. She tried to intervene but the car was driven off by Mr Proctor.

Police were waiting for him when he got back to his home in Blackburn after dropping off the family - and he ended up in court for the first time in his life.

The former teacher pleaded guilty to two charges of taking a child from a responsible person and was given a conditional discharge for six months and ordered to pay £50 costs.